On Dec 13, 2010, at 5:18 PM, ⸘Ŭalabio‽ wrote:
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2010 15:14:00 -0800 (PST), “Sand W” <b4p...@yahoo
.com>:
It would/will be great if any student of statistics will do a
statistical regression on these two bay-area elections, to prove
that higher voter turnout in CA's IRV-modernized cities made the
difference for Kamala Harris and Jerry McNerney.
The first thing to do is determine whether a phenomenon exists.
This could be nothing more than post hoc proctor ergo hoc. I see no
reason to believe that IRV would increase turnout.
do you mean that the turnout in the IRV election is no greater than
turnout in a regular election? i might agree.
but if you mean that the turnout for the IRV election is no greater
than the turnout for a traditional delayed runoff, i think there is
ample evidence to dispute that.
This could be a statistical fluke.
¿Is the turnout even unusual for these communities? In previous
elections, ¿did these communities have higher turnout than the state
average? That is an important question.
¿What is the hypothesis for why IRV could encourage turnout We
need a testable hypothesis.
i would put it negatively, this would be a statement of the hypothesis
i would propose to investigate:
Election policy that decreases convenience for voters will
decrease voter
participation. Having to vote once for your preferred candidate,
and then
being called on to return to the polls at a later date and vote
again for your
preferred candidate (if he/she makes it to the run-off) is
decidedly less
convenient and we must expect that significantly fewer voters will
show up
for the run-off. Or, if your most-preferred candidate did not make
it to the
run-off, the motivation to return to the polls to vote for a
somewhat less
preferred candidate (or to vote against a much disliked candidate)
is
reduced and fewer voters show up.
now, those of us who have participated and watched elections that go
to a delayed runoff have noticed, quite consistently, that the turnout
for the runoff is about half of the turnout for the original election
that preceded the runoff. would getting statistical data for that
test the hypothesis sufficiently?
--
r b-j r...@audioimagination.com
"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
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